


22 Years Ago

by thisisapaige



Series: Thisisapaige's Suptober20 Collection [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Character Study, Gen, One Shot, Sam Winchester through the years, Suptober 2020 (Supernatural), Team Free Will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26763244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisapaige/pseuds/thisisapaige
Summary: (For Suptober20. Day 1 Prompt: On the Road Again.)⁂Lawrence, Kansas, 22 years ago…Sam was out.
Series: Thisisapaige's Suptober20 Collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950343
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	22 Years Ago

**Author's Note:**

> I'm participating in #suptober20 over on Tumblr! I'm posting them here because, hey, it is an archive.
> 
> I'll likely do a lot of character pieces and I know I won't be able to resist indulging in my shippy side. I hope you like it.
> 
> You can also see my work (and I recommend checking out all the amazing things people are creating) over on Tumblr! 
> 
> [Come see me on my Tumblr! Don't be afraid to say hello. <3](https://thisisapaige.tumblr.com/)

_Lawrence, Kansas, 22 years ago…_

Sam was out.

He truly believed that. He thought he would graduate from law school, start a career, and live a normal, apple pie life with the woman he loved. He thought he would live a life free of monsters, dusty back roads, sketchy hotels, silver bullets, and arcane symbols. Most of all, he thought he would be free of the constant fear of death.

But then, Dean came calling, looking for dad, and Sam was on the road again.

One more job. One more job and Sam was out. One more job and Sam would find dad, kill the thing that took mom and Jess, and then he could rest.

But then, Dad died, Dean sold his soul to bring Sam back to life, and Sam was on the road again.

Sam wasn’t out. He would save his brother or die trying. He would say anything, do anything, to make that happen. Hunter life took his mom, took his dad, and took the woman he loved. He wasn’t going to let it take his brother, too.

But then, hellhounds dragged Dean to Hell, Lilith ran with fear in her milky white eyes, and Sam was on the road again.

Dean was back. Dean was back, no thanks to Sam. The demon blood ran through his body. Ruby smirked as he fed. The angels feared him. God Himself told Sam to stop. Dean treated Sam like he was a stranger. Sam wasn’t out. God, he was never getting out.

But then, Lucifer was freed, freed because of Sam, and Sam was on the road again.

Team Free Will: Castiel, the fallen angel in a trench coat; Dean, the Righteous Man who’d been to Hell and back; Bobby, the paranoid bastard with a panic room and endless books of lore; and Sam, psychic ex-blood addict with a connection to the Devil himself. Somehow, they did it. Somehow, they averted the Apocalypse. When Sam jumped into the cage, dragging Lucifer and Michael into Hell beside him, Sam was relieved.

Sam was out.

But then, Castiel pulled him out of the cage, trying to do the right thing, and Sam was on the road again.

It went on. Sam lost his soul. Sam was tortured by images of Lucifer fabricated by his own mind. He hit a dog. An angel named Gadreel took his body for a joy ride. For the second time, he ripped the world apart and released a caged force of evil in his single-minded pursuit to save his brother. He met his mother, getting to know her as someone more than a face in a few faded photographs, and better understood his legacy. Determined to prove that nurture had power over nature, Sam embraced the Devil’s son, taught him that he could be good, and was proven right.

Maybe, just maybe, Sam could be good, too.

Somewhere along the way, sometime in between all the horror, the terror, the trauma, Sam no longer cared about getting out. He cared about the people he saved. He cared about the moments he shared with Dean, with Castiel, with Eileen, with Jody and her wayward daughters, with Kevin, with Charlie, with Jack, and with everyone else he met along the way. He cared about doing good, about being good, about making up for the mistakes of his past.

He cared about being on the road again.

_Lawrence, Kansas, 37 years later…_

The final battle loomed on the horizon. Chuck, God, whatever he wanted to call Himself, wanted to end the world. One more battle. One more job. With the wisdom of his experiences, the people he loved supporting him, and the knowledge he had overcome every obstacle that came before, Sam was ready for whatever came his way.

Sitting shotgun in the Impala next to his big brother, with an angel and a nephilim in the back seat, Sam was on the road again.


End file.
